Over a Dozen Senators Working to Strengthen Climate Bill

Related post: Citizenship 101: How to contact Congress

Although four senators recently floated the idea that climate legislation was dead in the Senate, over a dozen of their colleagues are working on measures to make it stronger.

According to the progressive political blog Wonk Room,

Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH) has introduced the IMPACT Act, "Investments for Manufacturing Progress and Clean Technology Act of 2009," which would create a $30 million revolving loan fund to "help small and medium-sized manufacturers finance retooling, shift design, and improve energy efficiency.” The act has been added to the Senate legislation, and over 150 businesses around the country have endorsed it.

Sen. Brown has been joined by nine other Democratic senators in urging President Obama to be sure the legislation includes strong support for American manufacturing. They include Russ Feingold (D-WI), Carl Levin (D-MI), Evan Bayh (D-IN), Robert Casey (D-PA), Arlen Specter (D-PA), Jay Rockefeller (D-WV), Robert Byrd (D-VW), Al Franken (D-MN), and Debbie Stabenow (D-MI).

Senators Lamar Alexander (R-TN) and Tom Carper (D-DE) are working on adding language to the bill to “regulate power plant emissions of mercury, nitrogen oxide and sulfur dioxide.”

Sen. Carper is also seeking to improve the bill's funding for cleaner transportation. His Clean, Low-Emission, Affordable, New Transportation Efficiency Act (S. 575 / H.R. 1329) would allocate a share of the proceeds from carbon cap-and-trade "to transit, bike paths, and other green modes of transport.” Co-sponsoring the bill are Senators Arlen Specter (D-PA), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ), and Ben Cardin (D-MD) have co-sponsored the legislation.

Senators Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) and Olympia Snowe (R-ME) are working on legislation to curb speculation and prevent "Enron-like fraud [and] manipulation" of the carbon market. Senator Boxer says she intends to include their language in the climate and energy bill she'll bring before the Senate.

Senators Tom Udall (D-NM) and Mark Udall (D-CO) introduced legislation (S. 433) several months ago to significantly strengthen the House bill's weak federal renewable energy standard, to 25% renewable electricity by 2025. Sens. Michael Bennet (D-CO), John Kerry (D-MA), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Bob Menendez (D-NJ), and Bernie Sanders (I-VT) have co-sponsored the bill.

Senator Kirsten Gillebrand (D-NY) has committed herself to championing the US Environmental Protection Agency's power to regulate greenhouse gas pollution, saying that "EPA has to have authority to regulate coal plants under the Clean Air Act."

Senators Brown and Arlen Specter (D-PA) have committed to invoking "cloture" -- voting to cut off debate in the Senate -- if Republicans try to block the legislation with a filibuster. This is "a key move for President Obama’s progressive energy agenda," says Wonk Room.

As Wonk Room notes, Sen. Whitehouse recently observed that once climate legislation emerges from Barbara Boxer's Energy and Public Works Committee, "The move on the Senate floor will be rightward. And therefore, we've got to do our job to keep as many possibilities open for the floor as possible."